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Why it's good to have a sister, part 2

When Mallory was 2, we got her a tricycle. She sat down on it and started pushing herself forward with her feet down on the ground. "Use the pedals!" we shouted, which startled her, and she has refused to ride anything with pedals from that day to this.

This is my quintessential Mallory story, and it's pretty much true. When she was four or five, she said that she wanted a bike, that she was finally ready for a bike, so we bought her a bike, and she tried riding it once and declared it too scary. So the bike has been sitting in my in-law's garage for years (they live on a cul-de-sac which is ideal for bike riding; we have a slopey driveway and no sidewalks).

Yesterday when I went to pick the girls up at my in-laws, Phoebe was riding the bike. All by herself. Having a marvelous time. I told her I was proud of her, and Mallory said:

"I want to ride it too!"

So she got on. We had to raise the seat up, and still her legs were a bit too long. But she started to pedal. She's not very good at it yet; she doesn't quite have the knack of standing up slightly on one leg to get started; she doesn't know how to hook her foot behind one pedal to get them aligned. (These are things that, presumably, would come naturally to her now had she learned to ride a trike.) But she did it. And she said:

"This is really fun!"

Thank you, Phoebe, for showing your big sister how to ride a bike.

I wonder what would happen if I could teach Phoebe how to tie her shoes...

(Yes, this post definitely needs a picture. I'll try to get one soon.)

Comments

aimee said…
That is funny because it is usually the other way around--the older sibling does something and the younger sibling wants to do it too. Right now. At least that is how it is in my house.
3:16 PM
Anonymous said…
Yay Mallory! I'm so glad that she finally decided to ride a bike.

Mom
8:07 PM
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